CONDOLENCE - KL Bajaj

CITU Secretariat expresses heartfelt grief at the sudden passing away of Comrade K L Bajaj, Vice President, CITU after brief illness in a Hospital at Mumbai, on 18th April 2014. He was 79.

Comrade K L Bajaj joined the trade union movement in his early youth in the mid fifties and remained fully active in organizing the working class in Maharashtra during span of last six and half decades till the last day of his life. He took active part in Goa Liberation movement and was arrested and severely tortured in custody. He had to be hospitalized for more than a month after his release. He also actively participated in Sangyukta Maharshtra Movement. As a trade union and political activists he faced police torture and imprisonment several times.

In his early youth he joined RCPI as a political activist in the fifties and started working in trade union front. He later joined the CPI(M) in 1964. He was subsequently elected in the Maharashtra state secretariat of the party and also in the central committee of CPI(M).

Com Bajaj played frontline role in organizing CITU in the state of Maharashtra. He led the trade union movement in Maharashtra in various capacities and also as General Secretary and President of Maharashtra State CITU. He attended the foundation conference of CITU held IN May 1970 at Kolkata and got elected to General Council of CITU in its 3rd Conference in 1975. He was elected in the national secretariat of CITU in its 7th Conference in 1991 and continued in that position as Vice President of CITU till his death.

Despite his age and ailments, com Bajaj had all along been actively engaged in organizational and movemental work till he was hospitalized for the last time during early this month. He was highly respected and popular among all the trade unions and workers of all affiliations in Maharashtra and he played important role in uniting the trade union movement in the state on common issues of the working people.

The death of com Bajaj is no doubt a big loss to the working class movement. CITU Secretariat while offering homage in memory of the departed leader conveys its condolences to the comrades and his bereaved family members.